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| Sunday, 4 May 2003 |
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Compiled by Farah Macan Markar Digging in for mags of old, down in those "Poth Sappu" down D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha, I unearthed after what seemed like hours of work, going from one "Sappuwa" to another, were mags of the sixties, seventies and eighties. Here are a few samples for you to browse through. Starting off with a Mrs."Reader's Digest" of December, 1960 In this peacock issue, spreading its feathers about, one encounters the epic story of an Alsatian's devotion to his master, a six year old's "best present", Titan's journey into space, the success story of "Little Women", a father who delivered his baby, and many more, together with a sixties contortion of "Word power", "Life's like that" and "Laughter is the best medicine". My favourite article was a humorist's wry remarks on the hopelessly lost art of direction-giving. Here's a scoop from it. "The chief fault of the average direction-giver is an over-devotion to detail. Then also there is the person, usually male and proud of his efficiency, who showers you with fractions. "Turn right at the second traffic lights," he will say, "and go 7 8/10 miles to Hardscrabble Road. Then turn left, go 3 3/10 miles to Douglas, and turn left. Our house is exactly one-tenth of a mile from that junction". This sort of precision is likely to be the death of me: I've come within 1 1/10 inches of annihilation through keeping my attention fixed on the mileometer instead of on the road..." Next, we have Miss "Cine Blitz" of May 1985. "I hate the hypocrisy, filth and shallowness that exists in today's society. This so-called society sets different standards for successful and unsuccessful people. Society licks the feet of successful people. The rich and the successful can and do get away with almost anything. But if you are unsuccessful and not so rich, they leave no stone unturned to make your life miserable...When I was in trouble, not a single person came forward to help a disillusioned young girl who had almost taken leave of her senses. All they did was to slander me and cause me more pain and misery. And today that same bloody society has the guts to point a finger at me!"... Thus speaks Sarika with pain and bitterness of subjects closest to her heart. A lonely childhood during which she had to work for a living from the tender age of three. A bitter adolescence and youth where she fought her own battles privately. A total lack of communication with her mother, which made her finally pack her bags and leave home. These were the major upheavals that constituted the life of 24-year-old Sarika. She'd been intimately involved many times, but it seems as though every time she fell in love, she was searching for something. And today her desperate search has come to an end. She has found an anchor and solace in a man who loves her deeply as she loves him. But he is also a man who can never give her the ultimate security that every woman wants-marriage. Because he is a married man..." Sandwiched in the position of number three comes Inspector "Loris"-The Journal of the Wildlife Protection Society of Ceylon-December 1971 In this edition Inspector Loris takes a look at the Sinharaja Rain Forest, seeks out some coral killers, investigates the new fauna and flora protection advisory committee and analyses the age of Ceylon's extinct human Balangoda Man. The editorial meanwhile spells out a cynical view point on tourism and wild life. "Tourism has become the battle cry of the nation. In its quest for foreign exchange and economic rehabilitation the whole island is being geared to that industry, if we may so call it...It is an interesting question whether the average tourist is really interested in Wild life in any case. We think that most of them are mainly concerned to see a wild elephant and write home about it. We have seen tourists packed into jeeps and coaches and proceed in perahera at great speed through' the Parks in mid-afternoon when not a bird is astir. It is the purest luck if he would see anything at that time of day, leave alone elephants. The lucky ones occasionally do see an elephant on the horizon. That is for them the sum total of the much vaunted Wild Life of Ceylon. They are happy to be whisked back to their rest houses for the next item of the Travel Agent's programme. That is the package deal...". And at number four isssssss....Missss "SuperTeen" (Jan 1987) Wanna meet the TV hotthrobs of the eighties. This is where they hang out. Meet Alph, A-HA, Ricky Schroder, Menudo, Mike Fox, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Kirk Cameron, Jack Wagner and Don Johnson. Posters, pin ups, stories, special features Missss SuperTeen has 'em all. Here's an exclusive from Mr.Fox (Michael J.)... "I like making people happy, making them laugh, I still can't believe I get paid to do that. I feel very lucky to be able to do what I do for a living. I try to keep my fans happy because I love them all. They're so open and affectionate towards me. I appreciate all the kind things they say about me! The attention I get is just great. I really like people. I try to be exposed to as many different lifestyles as I can. If you can't realize how other people live, then the way you live doesn't mean much..." Mr "Sportstar" of April 4th 1987 speaks out next in line. Here's an extract from "The suicide off the last ball" "It could have been a re-run of the Australasia Cup final. The last ball of the match was a full too. Pakistan needed one to level and two to win. It made only one and then the most crazy of results exploded. Qadir got himself run out and the match was gifted to India. It was a technical knockout at Hyderabad and it came about because one cricketer was not aware of the rules. Having watched bottles of water go on to the field after every over and then pairs of gloves making their appearances regularly in the hands of substitutes, one wondered why a last minute message was not sent out to inform Mansoor Elahi and Abdul Qadir of the real position. Had the two batsmen in the middle been wise, we would not have had this hazy, crazy result. It was a crazy match in every sense..." |
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